To Realize Too Late
by CaptainCold and HeatWave
Summary: Captain Rex is dying, and with that realization, comes to memories, and feeling he had never known... Because he had ignored it. Kix, witnesses the death of Rex, and with that, the death of his love. Now Kix has to make his own decision regarding love. Before he too, can die before admitting it to the one he loves. Prequel to: Love on Coruscant


_(Hey guys... back with another story, hopefully a good one! Just to let you know, there will be a sequel, and I hope you enjoy both. Please review, and don't butcher me for paragraph or grammar mistakes. I am not firstly English, and it is not my first language, alongside struggling in grammar. So please forgive, and kindly point it out if you feel need to. Thanks!)_

Rex lay on his back in the snow, mind fogged with pain and delusions. He was vaguely aware of his hand clasped to his stomach, finding it hard to believe that, this time, may be the end.

Explosions, screaming and shouting filled the bitterly cold air as Rex lay silently, struggling to stay conscious.

A blaster bolt had found it's way to his abdomen, leaving him helpless in the snow, blood draining to mingle with the white powder.

He was dying. Of this he was sure, and with that acceptance, came the memories...

_*Memory*_

She stood there, hand on her hips in a defiant stance. She was angry, and Rex tried not to laugh at her feeble attempt to make her small form seem intimidating to General Skywalker.

"I am very capable to go with you!" She announced, arms crossed over her chest.

Anakin sighed. "Ahsoka, you know that I would like you to come, but it has been decided that-"

Ahsoka's crossed arms tightened, her big, blue eyes glaring up at her master. "Well too bad, Skyguy. I'm coming." She declared firmly, lips pulled into a straight line.

Anakin sighed, looking down at his Togrutan Padawan, then to glare at Rex who was attempting to stifle a laugh with his fist.

"Fine, Snips, you may accompany Rex and his squad." Anakin decided slowly, grinning at the clone captain.

"What?! But sure, I am perfectly capable of-"

"Yes, I know you are Rex, but Ahsoka needs someone to watch out for her." Anakin looked steadily at Rex. "Where there may also be less danger than if she went with me."

Rex grinned at the Togrutan, sure that Anakin had helped him score a point over her, but the young Padawan's mind was like a whip, making her quick on the comeback.

"Don't worry, Master. I'll keep Rex out of trouble." She smiled at Rex, whose mouth hung open in his helmet as his men snickered behind him.

"I'm sure you will, Ahsoka." Anakin smiled slightly, and Rex thought he was enjoying it.

"Besides." Ahsoka looked at Rex, face straight. "Rex has proven before that he needs some careful watching."

Rex reddened. _That had been a mistake!_ And he had been an immature shiny. How did she know that? It must have been... Rex glared at Anakin, who just looked at him. Annoyed, Rex turned around and glared at his men, whose snickers had turned into a roar.

Seeing their captain turn, they were quick to stifle their laughter.

Ahsoka had save his life on that mission.

_*Memory Ends*_

Rex opened his eyes. Kix, the 501st medic, was next to him now, asking questions that he couldn't hear over the ringing in his ears.

Kix slowly and carefully removed Rex's helmet, but his voice sounded like distant static.

"Stay with me, Captain." Kix's voice penetrated the darkness as the medic fiddled with a bacta patch.

"Kix." Rex coughed, the sudden tightening of his stomach muscles causing pain to rip through his body. "Kix..." He whispered again.

Kix looked at him. "I'm right here, sir." He answered, finally tearing open the bacta pack.

_*Memory Begins*_

Rex stood in the LAAT/i gunship, holding onto the strap above his head.

Anakin was briefing them on their next mission. "Rex, you take Finn around and head through the back while we..."

Anakin's voice faded into the background as Rex remained focused on the Padawan. She was watching her master and nodding her head every now and then.

_Shab, she's beautiful._ Rex thought. Her orange skin and white markings so unique, her blue eyes like lightsaber crystals...

Kix snapped his fingers in Rex's face. "Kamino to Rex!"

"What?" Rex asked, startled.

All of his clone brothers were looking at him, and Anakin and Ahsoka with concern.

"Are you feeling well, Rex?" Ahsoka asked, head cocked to one side.

"I'm fine." Rex responded, grateful for the safe haven of his helmet, for he was sure he was blushing.

"Are you sure, Rex?" Anakin asked. "You haven't been able to focus well lately." The Jedi's eyebrows furrowed as he stared intently at his second in command.

"I'm fine, General." Rex answered, mentally chastising himself. "Just thinking."

Rex forced himself to pay attention as Anakin continued the briefing.

*Memory End*

"It's too late..." Rex whispered as Kix leaned closer to hear.

"What's that Captain?" He asked, distracted.

"It's too late." Rex whispered, seemingly oblivious to Kix's presence. "I've realized it too late."

"Realized what too late, Captain?" Kix asked calmly, confused. Rex was most likely hallucinating.

"That I love her." Rex whispered, opening reddened eyes to look up at the medic.

Kix felt a chill travel down his spine. "Love who, Captain?" He asked. "Who do you love?"

"Ahsoka..." Rex whispered, forcing his eyes to stay open, and as Kix watched, they seemed to clear for a moment, Rex seemed to become aware of what was happening.

"Tell her I'm sorry Kix. Tell her that I said goodbye." Rex whispered, dying in the arms of his medic.

Kix was frozen there, on his knees in the bloody snow, his dead captain in his arms as he tried to wrap his head around what he had just been told.

"Hell." He muttered.

A long while later, Kix still remained on his knees in the bloody snow when Ahsoka Tano and General Skywalker arrived.

"I'm sorry, General." Kix looked up at the two Jedi. "He's gone.

Anakin stared down at Kix, who still held Rex's stiff body in his arms as if it were a sick child, disbelief in his eyes.

"Rex is... Dead?" Ahsoka asked, wide blue eyes clouded with the hurt of loss.

Kix looked up at the Togrutan and nodded sadly.

Anakin took the Captain's body into his own arms and began to head back in the direction of Republic lines, pain stiffening his stride, and blame straightening his spine.

Kix stood in the red snow with Ahsoka, who was looking down at the indent in the reddened snow, tears leaking from her eyes and occasionally dripping from the end of her nose.

Kix cleared his throat nervously. "Commander, Rex, uh... Rex told me to tell you that he loves you..." Kix stammered softly, his words causing Ahsoka to look up at him suddenly, the pain increasing with each word he spoke.

"He what?" Her whisper was painful, hopeless, lost...

"Rex, he, uh... He told me to tell you that he was, uh, sorry... That he realized too late that he... loved you." Kix answered, pained to have been given the burden of giving his young Commander the dying message of his Captain.

Ahsoka's tears increased as she turned away. "I wish I could've told Rex that I loved him..." Ahsoka struggled to speak against her tears. "I came too late." She placed her head in her hands and began to cry.

Kix, unsure of what to do, stepped forward and placed a hand on his commander's shoulder, in an inadequate gesture of comfort. But his own mind wandered back to Coruscant, and the Jedi Master Aayla Secura.

Aayla. His beautiful Aayla. Kix had bumped into her a few times, and she always spoke to him, as an equal... a friend. What had first started as respect and admiration had quickly blossomed into love. Then Kix had started to avoid her. He was afraid to voice his feelings, afraid that Aayla may already have a relationship with her second-in-command Bly.

But, now that Rex and Ahsoka served a living example, Kix made a mental decision that he would voice his love to Aayla Secura, regardless of the consequences he may face for it.

A worse consequence it was, to realize love when it was too late. And lost forever.


End file.
